The Discipline Dividend
July’s Theme: The Power of One
I once read about a man who, in the middle of feeling stuck in life, decided to start doing just two push-ups a day.
At first, it seemed silly, even to him. But every evening, he would get down on the floor, push twice, and stand up feeling a little spark of pride. Over time, two push-ups became five, then ten, and eventually a full workout routine.
Years later, James Clear, the author of ‘Atomic Habits’, would go on to teach millions about the power of habits. But it all started with a very simple decision: to do something small, every day, without excuse.
Many of us think discipline is something you either have or you do not. Like it is a special gift for monks, athletes, or people with unusual levels of motivation, like CEOs. But discipline is much simpler than that.
It is simply the repeated choice to act, even when your feelings are not in the mood.
Why then is it that some people can keep showing up, even when it is hard, while others lose steam after a few days?
Psychologists have studied this question for decades. One answer lies in something called the Habit Loop. Every habit has three parts:
The cue (the trigger that reminds you to act),
The routine (the behaviour itself), and
The reward (the feeling or outcome that reinforces it).
You see or feel a trigger (the cue), you respond with an action (the routine), and your brain gets a little treat that says, ‘Good job. Do that again’.
Over time, this loop becomes automatic. This is why habits feel easier the more you practice them.
There is also something researchers call willpower fatigue. Willpower works like a muscle. If you overuse it, it gets tired. But if you train it gently over time, it grows stronger.
This is why starting small matters so much. If you try to change your entire life in one week, you will burn out. But if you commit to small, consistent actions, your capacity for discipline expands naturally.
Aristotle once said,
‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit’.
I love this thought because it is a reminder that greatness is not reserved for special people. It is built in ordinary days, by ordinary people, who choose to do their work again and again.
There is also an old African proverb I hold dear: ‘Little by little, a little becomes a lot’. In other words, small actions are never really small. They are seeds. They grow quietly, and then one day, they bloom.
I know many of us had big plans when the year began and I know you definitely saw this coming, so let’s do it already.
We are in the second half of the year, right. How time flies. Now, think back to January.
Did you set any resolutions or goals for this year? What were they? How many have you completed, or are still working on? How many have you left?
I did not ask those questions to shame you, but to help you see clearly.
We have a little less than six months before the year ends, and a lot can happen between now and December.
So how do you start?
I found that a simple framework can help you build habits without feeling overwhelmed. I call it The 3Cs of Discipline:
Clarity – Be very clear about what you want and why it matters. Vague goals fade quickly. Do you want to read more because you love learning or because you feel pressured to keep up with others? Your ‘why’ fuels your staying power.
Commitment – Decide in advance that you will show up, even if imperfectly.
Consistency – Keep it small and doable. It is better to succeed at something tiny every day than to burn out trying to do too much. Two push-ups. One page of writing. Five minutes of prayer. It counts. It always counts.
So, here is your prompt:
If you started today, what habit could you build that would change your life’s trajectory in six months?
Don’t even rush to answer this question because the autopilot you have been living in, is costing you a lot already.
Look deeply into your life and at your goals, and pick one habit you can start TODAY.
Make it so simple that you cannot talk yourself out of it.
Keep at it for the next seven days. And then the next 14 days. And the next 30 days. And so on.
You might be surprised by what those little daily acts will become in time.
And when you feel like slacking off a little bit, remember these favourite words of mine from Leila Hormozi, ‘F*ck your feelings. Stick to the plan’.
The person you become by December is still in your hands. That, my dear reader, is your discipline dividend.
As always, I am rooting for you.
_Chinaza Favour🌱
P.S: We started this month on this note because self-discipline is the foundation that holds everything else together. If you can build this one thing, you can build almost anything.
I’ll see you next week.
This so resonates with what I learnt from the book, The Compound Effect.
It emphasizes consistency over intensity.
And one way of achieving consistency is to routinize habits.
When I startwd using Duolingo, the days I missed it were the days I set the reminder off. But once the reminder, the cue is on, my chances of doing it was 100%. The reminder served as an accountability partner for me and it drove my consistency up.
"Adjoudui, Je parle Francais petite"
Merci!
I build along with the rest of you. See you at the top!